Yieldable guard arm coupler



July 2, 1957 E. H. BLATTNER 2,797,821

YIELDABLE GUARD ARM COUPLER Filed Sept. 21, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1'Inventor:

Q Einil H. Blattner his Auorney July 2, 1957 H. BLATTNER 2,797,821

YIELDABLE GUARD ARM COUPLER Filed Sept. 21, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Inventor: Emil H. Blattner his Attorney Unite atcnt 2,797,821 PatentedJuly 2, 1957 YIELDABLE GUARD A CQUPLER Emil H. Blattner, Williarnsville,N. Y., assignor to The Symington-Gould Corporation, Depew, N. Y., acorporation of Maryland Application September 21, 1953, Serial No.381,239

7 Claims. (Cl. 213-154) couplers, have failed by splitting through theirguard arms during humping or shunting on bufiing with knuckles closedwith non-interlocking couplers, such as A. A. R. type E couplers of Acontour with which the bulk of railway cars new in service are equipped.These failures are now known to be caused by the inability of theknuckle of the E coupler to penetrate the interlocking couplersufliciently on impact to bring the guard arm of the E coupler intocontact with the knuckle of the interlocking coupler. The effect hasbeen to concentrate the impact between the guard arm and knuckle nose ofthe interlocking coupler with the result that even under average loadand at a moderate speed of 8 M. P. H, the force on the guard arm exceedsthe strength of the metal and breakage occurs. One solution is torelieve the guard 'arm of the interlocking coupler in the mannerdescribed in my copending application. Another is offered by thisinvention.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide aninterlocking coupler having a guard arm arranged to yield on impact withknuckles closed with a non-interlocking coupler and enable the force ofthe impact to be distributed between the guard arms and knuckles of thetwo couplers.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved yieldableguard arm for a railway coupler which is held against vertical movementin normal position and automatically maintains its horizontal alignmentwith the coupler head.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a guard arm for aninterlocking coupler which, while yieldable on bufiing with knucklesclosed, automatically compensates for wear in its pivot and maintainsits alignment for seating on coupling in the wing pocket of a matinginterlocking coupler.

A further object of the invention is to provide an interlocking couplerhaving a yieldable guard arm and of such arrangement and constructionthat, except on buffing with knuckles closed, the coupler conforms incontour and dimensions to a conventional interlocking coupler with arigid guard arm.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter inthe detailed description, be particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims and be illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan View of an interlocking coupler embodying a preferredform of the invention;

Figure 2v is an elevational view of the coupler of Figure. 1, from. thewing pocket side, with portions broken away and shown in section to moreclearly illustrate certain of the details of construction;

Figure 3 is a view partly in plan and partly in section, the lattertaken along the lines 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken along the lines4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, in which like referencecharacters designate like parts, the improved yieldable guard arm andassociated structure of the present invention, while adaptable,generally, to knuckle couplers, finds particular application ininterlocking couplers, such as the A. A. R. type H and the proposed A.A. R. type F. Of these, the F coupler has been selected for purposes ofillustration and modified, as necessary, to embody the invention.

As shown in Figure 1, the illustrated coupler, in coupled position, hasthe contour and dimensions of the type F coupler and, like it, iscomprised of a head 1, a pivoted knuckle 2, a guard arm 3 and a wingpocket 4, the guard arm and wing pocket being laterally aligned and onopposite sides of the head 1. Its guard arm 3, however, is not rigidwith the head but yieldable, the head, on its guard arm side, endingshort of the guard arm in what might be termed a stub guard arm andterminating in a wall 5 facing forwardly of the coupler. This wall, inthe illustrated coupler, is vertically directed and disposedsubstantially normal to the longitudinal axis of the coupler, beingpositioned, longitudinally of the coupler, to engage an outer end of awing pocket of another inter locking coupler to which the coupler iscoupled.

The guard arm 3 is comprised of a nose 6 of conventional configurationand a base or body portion 7, the nose 6 projecting forwardly beyond thehead 1 and the base 7 fitting or seating in a pocket or cavity 8, openoutwardly and at either end, and formed in the guard arm side of thehead intermediate its vertical extremities. This pocket projects throughand interrupts the forward wall 5 and is defined inwardly by a verticalwall 9 and vertically by spaced upper and lower horizontally extendingwalls 10, all integral with the head 1. The vertically spaced walls 10preferably taper or converge rearwardly, as wellas inwardly, and atequal inclination or angles of taper or convergence with respect to ahorizontal plane bisecting the pocket 8. Containable within the pocket 8in normal or coupling position, the body 7 of the guard arm 3 has itsvertically spaced upper and lower horizontally directed faces or walls11 of corresponding taper or convergence to the confronting, includingwalls 10 of the pocket.

It is intended that the guard arm 3 pivot, hinge or swing, adjacent itsinner or rear end, about a vertical axis relative to the coupler head 1and such connection may be obtained by a pintle or pivot pin 12,vertically disposed and projecting through suitably reinforced or bossedcylindrical openings in the confronting walls 10 and 11 of the pocket 8and body 7, respectively. It is also intended that the guard armnormally be wedged against vertical movement and thus held or maintainedin horizontal alignment with its companion wing pocket 4 and in positionto interfit with the wing pocket of a mating interlocking coupler. Thetapered confronting walls 10 and 11 of the pocket and guard arm mightserve this purpose. However, to avoid the necessity of closemanufacturing tolerances over such relatively large areas, it ispreferred that the walls 11 be spaced from the walls 10 and restrictedin their engagement to a pair of wedging or friction surfaces 13, eachformed on a rib 14 raised or instanding from the adjacent of the pocketwalls 10.

Like the cooperating guard arm walls 11, the wedging surfaces 13 taperinwardly and, preferably rearwardly and at the same angle of taper, thelatter to center the guard arm vertically relative to the coupler head 1as it swings back to normal position. By positioning the ribs 14 at theforward end of the pocket and in substantial locking coupler.

alignment with the forward wall of the coupler head, advantage may betaken of the reinforcement afforded at this point to the walls of thepocket by the wall 5.

-With the inner or normal position of the guard arm 3 fixed by thewedging surfaces 13, the outer limit of swinging movement of the arm isdetermined by a pair of stop lugs preferably aligned horizontally withthe upper and lower walls 10 of the pocket 8 and integral with andprojecting forwardly of the forward wall 5 of the coupler head. Asshown, the lugs preferably are triangular in plan and each seats in atriangular recess 16 of larger dimension in the nose of the guard arm,each of the recesses being defined inwardly of its stop lug by avertically directed shoulder 17 which is engageable with a correspondingstop surface 18 on the stop lug on outward swinging of the guard arm todetermine the outer limit of its swing.

The restoring or yielding means, by which the guard arm 3 is yieldablyresisted in movement and restored to normal position after displacement,is designed to be contained within the lateral confines of the couplerhead and thus enables the coupler in normal or coupling position toconform to the contour of the conventional type F coupler. To this endthe restoring means is comprised of a spring retaining or reactancelever 19, the lever seating or fitting in a recess 20 between the upperand lower walls 11 of the guard arm and being attached through upper andlower horizontal flanges 21 to the head of the coupler by the same pivotpin 12. Connecting and integral with the flanges 21 and forming the footof the lever is a vertically directed wall 22 of substantially S-shapeand having one leg or heel 23 bearing against the inner vertical wall 9of the pocket 8 and its other leg or sole portion 24 on the oppositeside of the pivot pin and within the recess 20. On the inner face ofthis sole portion is an inwardly directed spring seat 25 which with anoutwardly directed spring seat 26 formed on the wall 27 of the shoedefining the inner side of the recess, seats yieldable or resilientmeans preferably in the form of a coil spring 28. It will be noted thatthe spring 28 is inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of thecoupler and, for maximum restoring force, has its axis disposedsubstantially in the direction of movement of the guard arm or, moreexactly, chordal to its arc of movement.

With its guard arm 3 wedged in place in the pocket 8 and normally heldin that position by the coil spring 28, the operation of the coupler oncoupling with open knuckles with either an interlocking or anon-interlocking coupler, is the same as that of the conventional inter-However, on buffing with knuckles closed with a non-interlockingcoupler, such as the type E, shown fragmentarily in Figures 1 and 3, theguard arm 3, which if rigid would normally share with the knuckle 2 thefull brunt of the impact, as indicated in Figure 1, is displacedlaterally against the force of the spring 28, permitting the knuckle 29of the E coupler to slide into the interlocking coupler until the guardarm 30 of the E coupler strikes the heel 31 of the knuckle of theinterlocking coupler. As a consequence, the impact on the interlockingcoupler is taken at three points, rather than two, as in theconventional interlocking coupler, and the force, distributed over theknuckle 2 and yieldable guard arm 3, is held within the strength limitsof these members.

From the above detailed description it will be apparent that there hasbeen provided a yieldable guard arm and associated structure adaptableto a convention- 'al coupler and of particular application to aninterlocking coupler, there serving to enable the coupler to couple innormal fashion, while eliminating the cause of failure on bufiing withknuckles closed with a non-interlocking coupler. It should be understoodthat the described and disclosed embodiment is merely exemplary of theinvention and that all modifications are intended to be included whichdo not depart either from the spirit of the invention or the scope ofthe appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a coupler having a head and a pivoted knuckle, the improvementcomprising a pocket in a guard arm side of said head, a guard armpivotally mounted in said pocket and having a nose portion projectingforwardly thereof, spring means reacting against said head for normallyholding said guard arm in said pocket, and wedge means on said head andcoacting with said guard arm for normally maintaining horizontalalignment of said guard arm with said head.

2. In a coupler having a head and a pivoted knuckle, the improvementcomprising a guard arm pivotally mounted in and projecting forwardly ofa pocket in said head, spring means reacting against said head andacting substantially in the direction of pivotal movement of saidknuckle for normally holding said guard arm in said pocket, and wedgemeans on said head and coacting with said guard arm for normallymaintaining lateral alignment thereof.

3. In a coupler having a head and a pivoted knuckle, the improvementcomprising a pocket in a guard arm side of said head, a guard armpivotally mounted in and projecting forwardly of said pocket, areactance lever in said pocket and having a pivotal connection commonwith said guard arm to said head, said lever reacting against said head,and spring means interposed between said guard arm and lever andnormally holding said guard arm in said pocket.

4. In a coupler having a head and a pivoted knuckle, the improvementcomprising a pocket in a guard arm side of said head, a guard armpivotally mounted in said pocket and having a nose portion projectingtherebeyond, a reactance lever seating in a recess in said guard arm andcontained within said pocket, said reactance lever reacting against saidhead, and spring means between said lever and guard arm for normallyholding said guard arm in said pocket.

5. In a coupler having a head and a pivoted knuckle, the improvementcomprising a pocket in the guard arm side of said head, verticallyspaced inwardly converging wedging surfaces on said pocket andconfronting correspondingly converging surfaces on said guard arm, andspring means in said pocket and reacting against said head, said springmeans and surfaces cooperating to normally maintain said guard arm insaid pocket and in horizontal alignment with said head.

6. In an interlocking coupler having a head, a wing pocket on one sideof said head and a pivoted knuckle, the improvement comprising a sideopening pocket in a side of said head opposite said wing pocket, a guardarm pivotally mounted in said pocket and having a nose projectingforwardly thereof for interfitting with a wing pocket of a matinginterlocking coupler, a reactance lever mounted in a recess in andstraddled by said guard arm and reacting against said head, spring meansinterposed between said lever and guard arm and disposed to reactsubstantially chordal to the arc of movement of said guard arm, meansfor limiting outward movement of said guard arm, and wedge means on saidguard arm and side opening pocket for limiting inward movement of saidguard arm, said wedge means cooperating with said spring means fornormally holding said guard arm in said side opening pocket in lateralalignment with said wing pocket.

7. In a coupler having a head and a pivoted knuckle, the improvementcomprising a pocket in a side of said head, a guard arm of limitedlateral swinging movement pivotally mounted in said pocket and pivotalabout an axis substantially parallel to the pivotal axis of saidknuckle, inwardly and rearwardly converging vertically spaced wedgingsurfaces of substantially equal inclination in said pocket andcorresponding surfaces on said guard arm, a reactance lever seating in arecess in said guard References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS armand contained within said pocket, and spring meansbetween said lever and guard arm and reacting through said lever againstsaid head, said spring means and surfaces cooperating to normally holdsaid guard arm in said 2 gggi Jr 2g5? pocket 1n honzontal allgnment Wlthsa1d head. 5 2:454:878 Marler Nov. 30 1948

